Playoff Bound

Both the Blackhawks and the Bulls are headed to the playoffs for a second straight year. Last year I was not nearly as interested or as much of an avid blogger as I am this year and I missed the chance to write about such a great thing. The Bulls play tonight against the Knicks, which is their second-to-last game of the regular season. They will start off playing the Pacers in this year's playoffs. The Blackhawks played their final game on Sunday against Detroit and lost, but thanks to Minnesota beating Dallas (Thank You Wild!!) the Blackhawks slipped in. They will play the number one seed Canucks.


Bulls
The Bulls ended up sealing the number one spot in the East. If they win tonight, and tomorrow they can clinch the number one overall seed if they haven't already by then. They are playing the Knicks tonight, the only team they have not beaten all season. I think its important to win this game because it shows that the Bulls beat every single team in the league and deserve a ton of consideration as true contenders. I know that our team is young and this team has never won a playoff series together, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be considered. The Bulls are a good team and have proved that time and time again. Yes, the Celtics will show up in the playoffs and so will the Heat's big three, but Rose will show up in the playoffs too. The Bulls deserve to be considered contenders and nobody should be surprised if they win it all, but I actually didn't pick them to win it all. This team is young, like I said and they lack playoff experience. They are might end up facing the Lakers in the finals who have been there the last three years, they know how to win the finals and they showed that last year. This Bulls team is good and young, the Celtics, Spurs, and Lakers are all old teams and after this year they might not contend as well as they will this year and did last year. The Bulls have years to come of winning championships, Derrick Rose will not leave like LeBron and he will bring a championship to his hometown of Chicago. He is a true hometown hero. I didn't pick the Bulls to win this year because I still like to compare this team to the 2009 Blackhawks. They will make a splash and will be picked to win it all the next year and then in the playoffs they will make a great run to win it all. I will not firmly predict that the Bulls win it all, but if injuries subside I am firmly picking the Bulls to win next year's NBA Championship.


Blackhawks
The Blackhawks have the great task of being defending champs in this year's playoffs. They had trouble with injuries all year and were missing a lot of key pieces from last year's team, but they still held on to get in the playoffs in the very end. Now that they are teams should be worried. The Canucks are the number one team and they are very good. The Sedin twins are very good and so is Ryan Kesler. The Blackhawks are not going to let this chance pass them by, though. Jonathan Toews will be yelling and screaming at this team the whole playoff run and that is what will keep them going. Expect to see Kane, Toews, and Sharp playing like they did during that 8 game win streak and expect Hossa to be on the top of his game. The defense will be sturdy and hopefully with a little luck, Bolland will be back sometime during the playoffs. This is a team that can win and be a very good team if they give it their all. They can beat this team and the next team and the next. A great playoff run by the Blackhawks would not surprise me at all. They are a good team with a lot of heart, if they put everything out on the ice and give it their all they can keep the cup.